Monday, February 20, 2006

I saw the new Anthony Hopkins movie "World's Fastest Indian". Hopkins is great as usual in the role of Burt Munro, a New Zealander who set a land speed record in the sixties on a 1920's Indian motorcycle at the Bonneville Salt Flats. I thought it was really good. Inspiring. I think dad would like it because of the motorcycles.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

I have become mesmerized by the new Taco Bell Crunch Wrap! Last week I ate them 4 days in a row! It's a toastada covered in seasoned taco meat, sour cream, lettuce, tomato, nacho cheese sauce, wrapped in a soft shell tortilla and grilled to perfection. Reminds you of a floppy frisby or maybe the grill marks remind you of one of those ninja throwing stars. Either way it's delicious!!!

Saturday, February 18, 2006

It is quite rare that Cameron Park gets any snow but that is just what happened last night. It even started to stick a bit in the grass and on the deck. It had melted by this morning though so it was short-lived. We tossed the dogs out in it as they hadn't been in snow since their Colorado days. Here's a snap as evidence:

Thursday, February 16, 2006

There has been no post from Arkansas of late, andnot because I have forgotten how. We in Jonesboroare very excited about the upcoming halfpipesemifinals (3:15 A.M. Saturday on MSNBC). The wordon the street here is that nobody will be able tostop the Bulgarian jugernaught, but we are hopefulthat local athlete Benny Winkerson of Oil Trough,Arkansas will yet make his mark.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Okie State was inspired to win one for the gipper. In this case, the gipper was booze-hound Eddie Sutton. Alas, like a drunkard at the end of a binge, the Cowboys went to sleep at the end allowing the Jayhawks to pull away.

Monday, February 13, 2006

The Okie State coach boozes it up and gets wacked with a DUI after crashing his car. This bodes well for the Jayhawks who face Okie State tonight on ESPN's big monday game. Hopefully the Cowboys will be rattled and lose big resulting in the 8th straight win the the Hawks!

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Dad may want to check this out. It is an offering at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.Mathematics, Gender, and CultureAfter taking this course the student will be able to:* Critically evaluate eurocentrism in mathematics* Give examples of the historical role of women and people of color in mathematics* Critically evaluate research on the relationship of gender and culter to mathematics and mathematics education.

Monday, February 06, 2006

LAWRENCE — The first lesson Oklahoma needs to absorb after Sunday’s 59-58 loss to Kansas is to never again lodge at the Holiday Inn in Lawrence.

There’s nothing wrong with the fine establishment just off the Kansas Turnpike, except that’s where the Sooners have always stayed the night before the Kansas game under coach Kelvin Sampson, and Oklahoma is now 0-7 in those matchups.

If the way the final 8 minutes unfolded doesn’t prompt a change in itinerary — meals, habits, anything to find some fortune — nothing will. The Jayhawks’ 21-5 exit strategy was the team’s best stretch and Oklahoma’s worst of the season.

It was incredible, really. With Oklahoma leading 53-38, a demoralized Kansas team looked as if it had accepted defeat.

For Kansas, there would have been little shame in a loss. For 32 minutes, Oklahoma had executed an ideal game plan, using its rugged defense to hound KU shooters all afternoon, winning the boards and having big guard Terrell Everett beat defenders with his size and speed. Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout were their usual powerful selves near the basket.

Plus, the Sooners have been just as sizzling as the Jayhawks lately. They knocked off Texas last week, and even KU coach Bill Self recently wondered aloud whether the Sooners weren’t the league’s second-best team behind the Longhorns.

What Oklahoma had working against it Sunday was location. The Sooners just don’t win here. No team from the Big 12 South does.

Kansas now stands 29-0 in Allen against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Baylor in the Big 12 decade. The Jayhawks can make an even 30 when the Bears visit in two weeks.

Sampson has never won here. Neither have Rick Barnes or Bob Knight. Eddie Sutton has never won a conference game in Lawrence.

And some excellent teams from Oklahoma and Texas have dribbled into Kansas, nationally ranked teams such as the Sooners on Sunday. Final Four teams like Oklahoma in 2002. Teams with the national player of the year like Texas and T.J. Ford in 2003.

All get turned back. How does this happen time and again? Certainly, Kansas is always good. Sunday’s triumph should confirmthat this will be the program’s 17th straight NCAA Tournament team.

But in the Big 12 era, Iowa State has won three times at Allen. Missouri and Nebraska own victories here, and Kansas State took down Kansas earlier this season.

The difference is those teams from the North visit Kansas every year. The South teams are here once every two seasons, and nobody on the Oklahoma roster had ever played in an atmosphere quite like Sunday.

“Terrell and Taj have never been in an environment quite like this,” said Bookout, a senior who didn’t play in Lawrence two years ago because of a shoulder injury. “I thought in those last 7 or 8 minutes, (the home floor) really helped them out. Their younger guys got energized by it and got rolling.”

Especially center C.J. Giles, who had his best moments in a Kansas uniform. His defense was magnificent, and a save he made under the Oklahoma basket fed the Kansas tsunami.

Giles was getting minutes because Sasha Kaun, who also played well, had weary legs. In as physical a game as Kansas will play all season, the center position accounted for nine points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. That contribution was huge.

Giles was one of several Jayhawks saving their best for the last 8 minutes. Brandon Rush’s scoring, defense by Julian Wright, Jeff Hawkins and Russell Robinson, and Mario Chalmers’ gliding drive that proved to be the game-winner with 19.1 seconds remaining left Oklahoma dumbfounded.

“This one is hard to handle because we outplayed them for a long time,” Sampson said.

Self agreed.

“For 32 minutes, they were a lot better than us,” he said.

But for almost 10 years now, when a South team comes to Kansas, it hasn’t mattered who was better. The Jayhawks come out on top.

We are headed to two different parties to watch the bowl this year so it isn't apparent we'll be able to watch that much of it :( Last year we just made our own nachos and stayed home and that was a nice way to do it.